Golding Bird

Golding Bird (9 December 1814 – 27 October 1854) was a British medical doctor and a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians. He became a great authority on kidney diseases and published a comprehensive paper on urinary deposits in 1844. He was also notable for his work in related sciences, especially the medical uses of electricity and electrochemistry. From 1836, he lectured at Guy's Hospital, a well-known teaching hospital in London, and published a popular textbook on science for medical students called: Elements of Natural Philosophy.

Having developed an interest in chemistry while still a child, largely through self-study, Bird was far enough advanced to deliver lectures to his fellow pupils at school. He later applied this knowledge to medicine and did much research on the chemistry of urine and of kidney stones. In 1842, he was the first to describe oxaluria, a condition which leads to the formation of a particular kind of stone.

Bird was innovative in the field of the medical use of electricity, designing much of his own equipment. In his time, electrical treatment had acquired a bad name in the medical profession through its widespread use by quack practitioners. Bird made efforts to oppose this quackery, and was instrumental in bringing medical electrotherapy into the mainstream. He was quick to adopt new instruments of all kinds; he invented the single-cell Daniell cell in 1837 and made important discoveries in electrometallurgy with it. He was not only innovative in the electrical field, but he also designed a flexible stethoscope, and in 1840 published the first description of such an instrument.

A devout Christian, Bird believed Bible study and prayer were just as important to medical students as their academic studies. He endeavoured to promote Christianity among medical students and encouraged other professionals to do likewise. To this end, Bird was responsible for the founding of the Christian Medical Association, although it did not become active until after his death. Bird had lifelong poor health and died at the age of 39.